Average annual temperature is 24–25 ◦C, and annual precipitation
is 1600–2000 mm (Gouvêa 1969). The vegetation in the study
area is tropical lowland rainforest (Oliveira-Filho and Fontes 2000).
The mature humid forest at Una Biological Reserve is characterized
by a canopy 25–30 m tall, high abundance of epiphytes and vines,
and clearly defined strata (Amorim et al. 2008). In the cabrucas,
the understory of original forest is replaced by cacao shrubs, tree
canopy density is lower than in mature forests, epiphytes are usually
reduced to canopy layer and vines are minimal (Alves 1990,
2005; Sambuichi 2006; Sambuichi and Haridasan 2007; Cassano
et al. 2009). Traditional cacao agroforests exhibit great variation
in vegetation diversity and structure as a consequence of both
tree diversity of the original forest and the agroforest management
(Sambuichi 2006). The cabruca where the study was conducted has
well-developed canopy strata, although it is lower and thinner than
that of mature forests. Barreto and Cassano (2007) found 30 trees
(11 species) with a DBH > 10 cm in 0.1 ha, most were early successional
species. Inga edulis, Tapirira guianensis and Senna multijuga,
for example, together comprised over 50% of the trees. The cacao
plantation where the study was conducted received little manage-
C.R. Cassano et al. / Mammalian Biology 76 (2011) 243–250 245
ment: weeding happened only twice during the four years of the
study, tree epiphytes were neither pruned nor removed from cacao
plants, and agrochemicals were not used.